Washington, March 27: US President Donald Trump on Friday said that he has discussed the COVID-19 situation with Chinese President Xi Jinping and both nations are working closely together to fight the pandemic. The US President was in all praises for China and lauded the country for battling the deadly virus for nearly three months. "Just finished a very good conversation with President Xi of China. Discussed in great detail the Coronavirus that is ravaging large parts of our Planet. China has been through much & has developed a strong understanding of the Virus. We are working closely together. Much respect!", Trump tweeted. Donald Trump Indicates Climb Down on Use of 'Chinese Virus' Due to Origin of Deadly Coronavirus.

The coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed over 20,000 lives globally, has affected the US drastically. The US overtook China with the largest number of reported COVID-19 cases on Thursday. Ahead of the talks with President Xi, Trump had expressed hope saying that both the leaders will have a good conversation and it will be fruitful call. According to data from Johns Hopkins University, the United States overtook China to become the country with the largest number of reported COVID-19 cases in the world. Commenting on the report, Trump had said,"I do not believe China, no one knows what happens there. I like the country but no one knows what happens there. Donald Trump Hints at Compensation For Those Hit Economically, Calls COVID-19 'Chinese Virus' Repeatedly in His Tweets.

Here's Donald Trump's Tweet:

The John Hopkins University COVID-19 tracker revealed that there were 82,404 cases of COVID-19 in the United States versus China's 81,782.  The number of people infected with the novel coronavirus worldwide has exceeded 4,62,684 over 20,834 deaths have died, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) report.

US President Donald Trump, who has come under fire for labelling the novel coronavirus as the "Chinese virus", had earlier insisted the term was accurate because the virus originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan.  He later defended calling the coronavirus as "Chinese Virus' by saying that some American media outlets are "siding with China". The mainstream US media had later termed Trump's usage of "Chinese virus" as "racist".

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 27, 2020 12:18 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).